Sunday, January 27, 2013

For Egbunike, I dey laugh. Where lies our athletics future?

Sports minister, Bolaji Abdulahi, was quoted to have
disclosed that Innocent Egbunike has no valid contract with the NSC or the AFN
to coach Nigerian athletes.

True. Good outcome. Some of us fought for our brother,
Egbunike to be appointed as the national coach for Athletics. When he was
approached for the job, we asked, give him a four year tenure. Surely, I also
remembered that I said it clearly that, a short crash programme for the
Olympics won’t work.

He was lured in. He was told to take the task and deliver
and that the contract issue will be sorted out. It was like he lobbied for the
job the way and manner he rushed in. I remembered I insisted that he must get
the contract papers signed, sealed and delivered.

Read the minister’s words again. He has no contract. He has
been used, paid off and that is it.

A colleague said in reaction: “it seems Egbunike, who still
holds the national 400m record for 25 years running, will have to wait until
2016, perhaps he would be called upon to do a rush job just like he did at the
last London 2012 Olympics. He was brought in with only four months to the Games
and the result was clearly seen on the medals table.”

Reading through the minister’s speech, he added, “I haven’t
seen a contract that says he is the head coach of the AFN”. Very correct.

“He came purposely for the London 2012 Olympics and we only
helped with his entitlements for that period. However, he did a good job, if
there is anyway we can retain him, we will do so,” said Mr. Abdullahi. Uhm! What
a way to tell a workman goodbye.

I am sure the former African 400m champion, had been waiting
for the green light from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) or and the
National Sports Commission (NSC) to put his thoughts of revival into play.

The irony is this, Egbunike remains one of the few trained
and qualified Athletics coaches in the country. There are just very few of
them. Not the charlatans that the AFN claims and is forcibly trying to train as
‘coaches’ many of which are drop outs and drug couriers.

Desperacy ran Egbunike into the ditch. Now, I do not have
sympathy for him and neither will any reasonable Nigerian have sympathy for him
because he forsook his house and packed into another person’s house when it
matter most. He’s thrown away and his empty abandoned house is not happy to
welcome him back. Welcome to the feral hands of cold.

Is anyone bothered and asking questions of how do we revive
the crashed fortunes of the country in Athletics? Or are we hanging our nation’s
athletics fate in the hands of ‘coaches’ who tell young girls that ‘if I have
sex with you, you will be a world beater’ and for the girl to say, ‘I am a good
Muslim, I say no’, she was called names publicly and verbally attacked,
dropped. She improved and was shunned for the ill fated World junior. Please sing
the ‘nunc dimitis’ while we siddon look.